Voter turnout in Nepal’s parliamentary elections reached around 18 percent by noon on Thursday, according to the Election Commission.

Election Commission spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said 3,163,736 ballots had been cast across the country by 12pm.

Earlier, turnout stood at around 6 percent by 9:30am and rose to 10.18 percent by 11am as polling gained momentum.

Voting has continued largely smoothly nationwide, with only minor incidents reported. Election Commissioner Sagun Shumsher Rana said polling was progressing normally across most districts.

Nepal Police also said the overall situation remained peaceful. Police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle said minor disagreements occurred at a few polling centres, but no serious problems were reported.

“Some jostling is expected during elections, but no major issues have arisen. We are ensuring that the voting process remains peaceful throughout the day,” Kafle said.

Polling was briefly halted at the Jabdi polling centre in ward 4 of Balara Municipality in Sarlahi after a dispute between supporters and candidate representatives. The dispute began when an elderly voter attempted to cast a ballot with assistance from a person who was not a relative.

Officials suspended voting temporarily before Chief District Officer Ramuraj Kadariya and district police officials mediated the dispute. Polling later resumed.

Tension had also been reported earlier in ward 1 of Balara Municipality, but the situation was brought under control.

In another incident, a police firearm was accidentally discharged at the Tavakhola (Kha) polling centre in ward 3 of Katari Municipality, Udayapur, causing minor damage to a ballot box containing three votes. Voting resumed shortly afterwards.

Polling was also temporarily halted at the Malu polling centre in ward 4 of Tamakoshi Rural Municipality, Dolakha, after a dispute over the seating of candidate representatives led to an attempt to assault polling staff. Police fired a warning round to control the situation and authorities said efforts were underway to restore order.

A total of 18,903,689 voters are eligible to elect 275 members of the House of Representatives in the elections, an increase of 915,119 compared to the 2022 polls. Around 52 percent of voters are aged between 18 and 40.

There are 6,541 candidates contesting the elections. Under the first-past-the-post system, 3,406 candidates, including 1,143 independents, are competing for 165 seats, while 3,135 candidates from 63 political parties are contesting 110 seats under the proportional representation system.

The Election Commission has set up 23,112 polling centres across 10,963 polling stations and deployed 341,113 security personnel, including 149,000 temporary election police.

The commission aims to publish results under the first-past-the-post system within 24 hours after vote counting begins.